University of Detroit Mercy Special Collections

The University of Detroit Mercy honors its faculty and students with an annual celebration of their scholarly publications and creative activities. In the same light, the university celebrates the publication record of its graduates. This list was developed in April 2014 from information that could be located and verified. Libraries/IDS is interested in expanding this list with books of alumni authors who are not currently included.

From the 1820s to the Civil War, African Americans assumed prominent roles in the transatlantic struggle to abolish slavery. In contrast to the popular belief that the abolitionist crusade was driven by wealthy whites, some 300 black abolitionists were regularly involved in the antislavery movement, heightening its credibility and broadening its agenda. The Black Abolitionist Digital Archive is a collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period.

From U.S. Honduran embassy documents to underground newsletters, from photos and slides of guerillas to extensive video documentaries, our archive now holds more than 300 rare items. Come see it for yourself in the Library, 3rd floor archives holdings room, on the University of Detroit Mercy's McNichols campus.

The Celebration of Scholarly Achivement is a combination of what where previously two annual events -- the Celebration of Faculty Authors, which was started in 2005, and the Faculty & Student Research Symposium and Poster Fair, which began in 2006. This event highlights the scholarly achievements of both students and faculty.

Explore programs from University of Detroit, Mercy College of Detroit, and University of Detroit Mercy commencements. This collection is currently being broadened to include articles, images, and other memorabilia related to these events.

Convocation is defined as a group of people called together by directive, especially in an academic setting. For many years, a booklet was distributed in which the Deans of the colleges/schools and the Deans of the academic support units and directors of major administrative offices provided annual reports on their respective unit’s successes and challenges. When viewed collectively, the booklets provide an ongoing history of the university.

The historical Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs contain information about academic programs, course descriptions and student services offered by University of Detroit Mercy or the previous institutions known as Mercy College of Detroit and University of Detroit. The catalogs also contain general University and specific academic policies and degree requirements for the academic year that the catalog was published. In some cases the catalogs spanned more than one academic year.

Since 1978, Dichotomy has been a repository of academic discourse from students and professors as well as luminaries in the fields of architecture and design. Each issue focuses on a simple yet provocative theme around which articles and featured projects are curated.

The Fr. Edward J. Dowling, S.J. Marine Historical Collection, which was donated to the University of Detroit Mercy in 1993, is considered one of the most complete private collections of information on the subject of Great Lakes marine history. The collection consists of close to 58,000 photographs, plastic and glass negatives, postcards, color plates, sketches, and paintings, as well as detailed information on nearly every commercial ship that sailed the Great Lakes since 1850.

Among the first public figures to utilize the immense power of the nation's passion for radio, Fr. Charles Edward Coughlin reached a broad ecumenical audience during the 1930s. By the height of his popularity in 1932, Coughlin reached a potential audience of some 40 million people. Though a critic of the forces of mass consumer culture around him, he ironically used the first national network to distribute his political and economic views.

The University’s website notes that “University Honors Convocation is an annual event that celebrates the academic excellence and leadership of University of Detroit Mercy students.” This seems to be somewhat of a general statement that may be found on any honors convocation website but there is much more depth to the purpose of this event at Detroit Mercy.

The University of Detroit Folklore Archive was founded in 1964 by professors Frank Paulsen and James Callow. Field notes of folklore, gathered from the Detroit area, were originally maintained on index cards and later converted to computer disks in 1974. The original digital archive contained approximately 38,177 field records. It has since grown to include over 40,000 records.

Lawrence DeVine Playbill Collection

Print Collection

Playbills, books, and other media from across the U.S. and Canada gathered during his 1968-1998 tenure as Detroit Free Press theater critic. Accessible by appointment only.

"Light Up the Land" was presented as part of the 75th anniversary of the University of Detroit in November 1952. The story is about the history and value of education in an American democracy. It starts out with a young couple thinking about leaving school to get married believing that education is a waste of time. A kindly professor guides them through the history of education and how democracy played a role, from the time of Moses, the City of Athens during the Golden Age, the American Revolution, and other eras up to modern America.

Marie Corelli Collection

Print Collection

Letters of a British novelist running from 1906 to 1923. These are primarily to her close acquaintances, the Severn family. Accessible by appointment only.

Maurice Greenia, Jr. is a native Detroit artist whose work grows out of the city; he lives in the artistic center of Detroit -- the Cass Corridor. Thousands of people see his work every year, but many do not know the artist nor the multitude of formats in which he works. This site is aimed at the preservation of his work, some of which cannot be physically preserved, and is viewable only in photographs; the chalk drawings on the old Hudson's Building being a prime example of work preserved only photographically. Browse through the site a

From October, 1941 through April 1989, Mercy College of Detroit offered its academic population news and information through the publication of a bi-weekly newspaper. The direction of the publication was to echo the dedication and devotion that defined the life of Catherine McAuley. Coming from the Outer Drive location (as noted in the newspaper’s name), Catherine McAuley’s spirit held a firm place in the scholastic achievement and social life of the students who modeled their lives on hers.

The Shrine Herald is the weekly parish newsletter for the National Shrine of the Little Flower. It began publication in November, 1935, and continues today. The newsletter reports activities within the parish, including the many parish organizations. It reports births, baptisms, marriages and deaths in the parish, information about upcoming events and services, and it serves to post events within the Archdiocese of Detroit.

UDM’s irreverent, profound, and visually innovative undergraduate arts journal. Established in 1992, [sic] is published annually by the English Department’s Dudley Randall Center for Print Culture. The journal is edited and designed by students and features photography, fine art, poetry, fiction, and prose. Its mission: giving voice and vision to UDM’s exceptionally creative student body.

A brief history of one of the University's sponsoring institutions, the Sisters of Mercy. Included is an introduction by Gilmary Bauer, RSM and a two part video series describing the history and persons that have shaped the Sisters of Mercy. The QuickTime player is needed for viewing the video potions of the material.

A Tamarack is a type of pine tree with reddish-brown bark and blue-green needles. It's also the name of a series of publications from the University of Detroit that appeared between 1890 and 1923. These are considered the first issues of what in 1923 would be absorbed by the Varsity Newspaper that started its publication in 1918.

While many bachelors and masters theses have been digitized and are accessible on the web via our digital Thesis Collection, there are still over 8,000 of these works that are only accessible in print on site. This bibliography of this print collection is intended to improve the findability of these valuable student-created resources by collecting their authors, titles, publication dates, and call numbers, along with program and degree information, in a single location.

The University of Detroit Mercy Libraries/Instructional Design Studio present these bachelors and masters theses as fulfillment of students' requirements for graduation. The theses reflect the research, analysis, creative interpretation, and writing of the respective students. The University of Detroit Mercy accepts these theses as the original work of each student without endorsement of any specific theories, themes, architecture structure or creative interpretation.

This collection of archives contains records, publications, and audio-visual materials of three institutions. Some records remain in the confidential files with permission for access determined by the President of the University.

Sr. Mary Justine Sabourin, R.S.M. of Mercy College of Detroit and Fr. Herman J. Muller, S.J. are the primary authors of the official history books of each of their respective institutions prior to consolidation and the post consolidation book, Legacy of Excellence.

Alumni, friends, students, employees and others interested in the University of Detroit Mercy are encouraged to peruse these books and gain an appreciation of the significant contributions the University has made to the city of Detroit.

The University of Detroit Mercy presents here a record of the honorary degrees conferred by the University of Detroit, Mercy College of Detroit, and the University of Detroit Mercy. It provides a record of whom and what these institutions chose to honor over the last 100 years.

From 1946 to 1953 a student singing organization called the University of Detroit Choral Society (also known as the Choral Club) was directed by George McLeod. Then at the beginning of the academic year of 1953, the University hired Don Large, Choral Director at WJR radio. The name of the singing organization was changed to the University of Detroit Chorus and it remained under the direction of Don Large until 1975.

Yearbooks represent a history of university organizations, activities, athletics, faculty, and graduates of the specified year as prepared from the perspective of students.The intent of this yearbook database is to preserve the history of the university, to make this unique material more accessible to everyone, and to give alumni an opportunity to sit back and remember the good times and exceptional education they received from this esteemed University.

For more than nine decades, The Varsity News has captured the pulse of our campuses. The student-run newspaper began publishing in 1918, and continues to this day. This archive brings together more than one thousand issues, representing most of those years.

The DALNET libraries serve many different user groups. Their collections include instructional materials, rich cultural heritage resources and collections of unique one-of-a-kind objects.

University of Detroit Mercy

4001 W. McNicholsDetroit
,
MI
,
48221-3038

This site is endorsed by the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) and supports the views, values, and mission of UDM. The University of Detroit Mercy web site provides links to other web sites, both public and private, for informational purposes. The inclusion of these links on UDM's site does not imply endorsement by the University. Please contact the Instructional Design Studio for any questions regarding this web site.